For Women of Influence magazine, which focuses on advancing professional women, their second annual list meant looking at five sectors — Business, Health, Non-Government Organization, Professional Services and the Public Sector — and finding females who were leaders in those fields. Beyond that, the publication made a choice to focus on women who were well-established in their careers, seeking out those who'd had a number of important positions, recent promotions, managed a significant number of employees, and interestingly, had an increase in compensation in the past year.

However, in "economic participation and opportunity," which measures, among other items, wage equality, Canada came in 12th. A Globe and Mail article partially attributes any remaining difference in male vs. female wages to an unwillingness to ask for raises.

But for the women featured in Women of Influence's list, asking for what they want doesn't seem to be a problem — instead, it's a theme that pervades the story of each of these women's rise in their careers. Perhaps as they continue on and mentor younger employees, that will be the norm and not the exception.

SEE: Check out Women of Influence's list of the top 25 women in Canada for 2012. Have suggestions of your own as to who should be on there? Let us know in the comments below.

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Women Of Influence's Top 25 Women

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Who: Kirstine Stewart
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: Executive Vice-President, English Services, CBC
Notable quote: "I don't think, as women, that we actually look for recognition, so it's incredibly motivating and gratifying to know there's a group of people who believe that what you're doing makes a difference."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Sylvia Chrominska
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: Group Head, Global Resources and Communications, Scotiabank
Notable quote: On becoming the first female executive vice-president, "That move suddenly put me at the senior executive table, and with no other women in the bank who'd had that role, there was nowhere to go for advice."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Cathy Bennett
City: St. John's, Newfoundland
Profession: CEO, Bennett Group of Companies
Notable quote: "My inspiration comes from trying to set a place in Atlantic Canadian business history."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Pauline D'Amboise
City: Montreal, Quebec
Profession: Secretary General and Vice-President of Cooperative Support, Desjardins Group
Notable quote: "If you think you have the right idea, go for it — have the courage to suggest new ideas and bring solutions to solve problems."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Moya Greene
City: London, UK (originally from Newfoundland)
Profession: CEO, Royal Mail Group
Notable quote: "When you're young, you can miss lots of things, and if you have a guide, you wise up much more quickly."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Dr. Eve Tsai
City: Ottawa, Ontario
Profession: Neurosurgeon, The Ottawa Hospital; Associate Scientist, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
Notable quote: "What I'd to be able to do at the end of my career is say that we've got a way to repair brains that are injured, and spinal cords that are injured."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Dr. Fiona Costello
City: Calgary, Alberta
Profession: Associate Professor, Departments of Clinical Sciences and Surgery; Clinician Scientist, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary
Notable quote: "Everything I do is with the hope that I can positively impact the lives of patients with vision loss in Canada."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Janet Davidson
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: Canadian Executive of The Global Healthcare Practice, KPMG LLP
Notable quote: "The healthcare system really isn't a healthcare system, it's a sickness system ... How do we make sure people stay healthy so they don't actually have to use the system?"
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Camille Orridge
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: CEO, Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network
Notable quote: While working as a "ward maid" in the 1960s, Orridge says, "I would see things and how they were organized and think 'I can do better than that.'"
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Christine Power
City: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Profession: President and CEO, Capital District Health Authority
Notable quote: "We ask [police, schools and business community leaders] what's [their] role in health, how can we use [that role] to promote well-being in the community?"
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Rosemary McCarney
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: President and CEO, Plan Canada
Notable quote: "I recruited a really strong team of people around me who've been at the heart of everything we've managed to get done."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Bonnie Schmidt
City: London, Ontario
Profession: President and founder, Let's Talk Science
Notable quote: "How do you prepare for the jobs of the future when we don't even know what those jobs are going to look like?"
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Beverley Wybrow
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: President and CEO, Canadian Women's Foundation
Notable quote: "I love the variety of my work, but my greatest achievements are what the CWF team has managed to accomplish, together."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Ilana Landsberg-Lewis
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: Executive Director, Stephen Lewis Foundation
Notable quote: "Gender equality is the greatest work left to be achieved on this planet, and without it, nothing improves."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Andrea Carey
City: Victoria, British Columbia
Profession: Director of Operations and Community Engagement at the Pacific Institute For Sport Excellent
Notable quote: "Physical literacy is the confidence and competence to take part in a variety of movement skills."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Anne M. Stewart
City: Vancouver, British Columbia
Profession: Partner, Blake Cassels & Graydon, LLP
Notable quote: "I''ve been blessed. I had lots of opportunities growing up; I have a lovely career. I think it's important to give back to our communities."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Rosemary McCarney
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: Partner, Sack Goldblatt Mitchell, LLP
Notable quote: "Many people think lawyers only serve the articulated needs of the clients ... but equally we are there to see the structural flaws, the failures of the system and work towards change."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Jane Allen
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: Partner, Chief Diversity Officer, Global Renewable Energy Leader, Deloitte
Notable quote: "Nine times out of 10, if you think the job is too big or too hard, it's not, and if you think you can't do it, you can."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Carol Hansell
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: Senior Partner, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, LLP
Notable quote: Her stated goal is to ensure a 'high quality shareholders' vote,' which means that shareholders are properly informed, among other priorities.
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Shannon Bowen-Smed
City: Calgary, Alberta
Profession: President and CEO, Bowen Workforce Solutions
Notable quote: Bowen-Smed describes her role in the company as "opening doors to opportunity."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Carol Stephenson
City: London, Ontario
Profession: Dean, Richard Ivey School of Business
Notable quote: "When I decide to work on something, I really focus on it, get it done, and then move on to the next thing."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Cristina Amon
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: Dean, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto
Notable quote: She attributes her successful engineering career in part to interests. "I think I was always interested and astounded by how things work."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Kellie Garrett
City: Regina, Saskatchewan
Profession: Senior Vice-President, Strategy, Knowledge & Reputation, Farm Credit Canada
Notable quote: "I'm extroverted and like to talk out loud about ideas when I think they are good, but if I'm the main person talking then it's worth nothing."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Karen Stintz
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: Chair, TTC; City Councillor, City of Toronto
Notable quote: "My ultimate vision, at the end of 2014, is to look back on my role and ask myself, did I leave the TTC and the community a little bit better than how I found it?"
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.

Who: Nancy Croitoru
City: Toronto, Ontario
Profession: President and CEO, Food and Consumer Products of Canada
Notable quote: On helping consumers make better choices: "We heard loud and clear from consumers that what they trust the most is the information on packages, but they didn't know how to use it."
Read the rest of her profile in the online version of Women of Influence's Winter issue.